In the Spotlight Section of the website, I want to try to bring you guys a little snippet of motorcycling in Southern California. One article might focus on a long defunct aftermarket parts manufacturer while another might profile a local personality who is involved in one way or another in the So. Cal Scene.

Our first little tidbit is a good one. One of my customers, Jake, sent me some pictures of some guys that used to run around So. Cal. on their hopped up, customized Triumphs. This group of guys eventually came to call themselves the Barbarians and had their leather jackets painted up to reflect their Barbarian spirit. This free wheeling bunch of guys were just looking for fun back in the late fifties and early 1960s. They rode around together long before the heyday of the counterculture biker that we associate with So. Cal. and Oakland, CA. These guys pretty much had motorcycles and good fun on their minds long before the gang rivalries of other clubs. They were a club of bikers, but not a 1%-er club, although they may have been thought of as a bunch of unruley hooligans. Check out these pictures of the Barbarians as they ride around So. Cal in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Looks like some of these pics were taken in Yosemite Valley; apparently the barbarians were fond of road trips too.

Look at this crazy game they are playing on their bikes. It looks like the object of the game is to bust the balloons that are taped onto the heads of the other guys. I cannot tell if those are baseball bats or rolled up newspapers or what, but it does not look like you would want to be in the middle of all of that swinging unless you were wearing your helmet, and of course some guys are NOT wearing their helmets. Loads of fun for the whole family and not your average "eat a hot-dog off of a string while riding a bike" type of field game either.

Some of the old Barbarians are actually still around and still rip around on Triumphs, although they are a lot older and more low key these days. The Barbarians meet every couple of months in Simi Valley, and although they don't usuall yplay the balloon game any more, they still have lots of fun. More on the Barbarians as it comes in. Jake has promised me some old 8mm footage of some the barbarian runs. I cannot WAIT!!